Farmers with few weed problems will see little benefit in growing a herbicide-tolerant canola, says an Agriculture Canada weed scientist.
But farmers with weed-infested fields will see a significant yield increase by using a herbicide-tolerant variety, said Bob Blackshaw of Lethbridge, Alta.
“If weeds are a problem, it’s probably the way to go,” said Blackshaw after an extensive three-year, prairie-wide study. “But if farmers are managing their weeds in other ways, then in those cases they couldn’t expect a yield benefit.”
In trials at Lethbridge and Lacombe in Alberta, Scott, Sask., and Brandon and Morden in Manitoba, herbicide-tolerant canola outyielded conventional canola in two-thirds of the plots.
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Similar performance
The rest of the plots with no significant yield increase had few weed problems from the beginning, and conventional canola yielded as much or more than the herbicide-tolerant version.
“In those cases there’s not much to be gained by herbicide-tolerant canola,” said Blackshaw. “In many cases there is an advantage, in some cases there’s no advantage and that should be part of the decision-making process.”
One of the biggest benefits of herbicide-tolerant canola is the huge swath of weeds that can be killed while growing a crop. Conventional growing systems won’t touch problem weeds like stork’s-bill, cleavers or thistle. Using a herbicide-tolerant canola will clean up problem fields.
“For that it’s a huge advantage,” he said.”The bottom line is farmers need to know what weeds they have on their farm.”
